Blog

It's the 3rd of May 2014 and the past few days have been baking hot. Imagine the heat from an oven that's just been opened to take out that freshly cooked dinner... the intense rush of hot air blows into your face... and now think of that heat surrounding you all day... every day... That is Nagpur. A place that seems closer to the Sun than the rest of the Earth.

But, as I write this, there is a strong wind blowing... a storm is coming... a storm that will blow away the heat and bring the rain with it... a storm that will leave coolness in its aftermath...

This year, because of elections and the early summer, schools closed in April. Many of the kids have gone to their villages and will be back only in June when the school opens. Those who have stayed back are attending summer classes. These extra hours that we have with the children are essential for their growth. They are spending an hour a day learning crochet and two hours with their lessons. They will also begin dance classes next week. Two of the children have chosen to do extra art lessons which are proving to be beneficial to hone their talents.

Hansi is away at the moment and is speaking at Badnera. He will be traveling for the next few weeks to various other places.

Kath is spending time with the children and as the teachers are going on their annual leave, she and Anu will be spending more time teaching and instructing the children.

We are also holding holiday classes for children from other schools and it will be good for the kids of Emmanuel School to get some exposure to children from other parts of society.

There is much happening in the slums of Nagpur and change is coming there.

Come evening and
bedtime, my grandson loves me narrating stories from his ‘Book’ (Children’s ABC
Book of Bible Stories), while all the time calling out “..tar, *tar, *tar”. He
loves that STAR over the manger on sleeping Baby Jesus, for the 100th
Time!

We love the Christmas narrative.
It is one of the greatest Family Stories. It has all the drama, the suspense, the
supernatural participation and of human frailties. Unlike fictional stories, Christmas
narrative is historical, true to life, and one that took place within our time
and space. Fictional stories, on the other hand, are built on the imagination and
ability of the authors to weave it together to current reality.

While reading the Christmas
narrative a fresh perspective dawned on me. It was Joseph the father, the
husband, and the man who came alive. Joseph became all the more relevant
because so much of our society has been talking about Parents & Child
Relationship of late. Fatherhood, it seems, has gained a diminutive image in
our modern reality. It’s as if we men need to relearn how to be men again!

Joseph fits right into
this slot perfectly. He makes for an excellent model for men, for fathers and for
boys entering manhood!

For years now we have
been hearing the Christmas narrative and it has seldom shifted away from its
bias towards Mary and her baby Jesus. Joseph doesn’t protest. Men don’t
protest! (?). “That’s the way it ought to be”, would be Joseph’s response. It
is these kinds of attitudes that we examine in this article and to rediscover Joseph
from our 21st Century eyes, and language at this 2012 Christmas
celebration.

ðJOSEPH: “The
Carpenter of Royal Origin”

Joseph was a run of
the mill kind of a person - very ordinary! In fact he could be any of us.
By profession he was a businessman and by trade a carpenter. He was also the
son of King David (Lk. 3:23,32).

He had done well as Carpenter Businessman and had now seriously
begun to explore marriage and to start his own family.

As he began to search for possibilities, he had found Mary
and proposed. Mary was over the moon to be asked and had readily accept his
proposal. She felt proud and blessed to be Joseph’s fiancé and romantically
looked forward to the D-Day when Marriage would happen to this wonderful godly
man. Who wouldn’t?

ðTRUTH
CAN MAKE THE STRONGEST FEEL WEAK IN THE KNEE - BEWARE!

A few weeks after their engagement Joseph heard whispers
float about Mary. The floaters rumored
that Mary his Fiancé was pregnant. The gossip had made him feel angry, agitated,
and shamed. He refused to believe these rumors. He had to clarify. He decided
that he would speak directly to Mary on the issue.

That’s the kind of person Joseph was – straightforward, no
beating about the bush, practical, daring, but mature, courageous sensible, courteously
sensitive, and decisive.

So when Mary confirmed her pregnancy, Joseph found it hard
to stay standing. He sat down. His thoughts were in a whirl and chaotic. He
thought hard and prayed even harder for wisdom and for an appropriate response
to Mary.

To confess the truth, Joseph had not anticipated Mary to be candid,
bold and straightforward. He expected her to hedge about the issue. So, Mary’s
attitude had left him confused. On top of it all she had insinuated that the
child in her was ‘God-originate’. Although Mary did not look or sound loony,
her religious angle on the issue was way off radar Joseph felt.

“Insane!” Joseph
had told Mary. “Be careful of what you
insinuate”, he had warned. But she had insisted that it was the truth.

The encounter with Mary went off worse than was anticipated.
Neither had felt any better for it. In fact the entire face-off had left him
feeling angry, and shattered. The worse fact was that Mary and he were not in a
‘live-in’ relationship either. So the child wasn’t even his. Mary was mad. “Who ever had heard that God was making virgins
pregnant so that He could accomplish His purposes for the human race? Joseph
had reasoned and argued within himself.

Emotionally, Joseph felt sad, cheated and a fool. It
depressed him. ‘Perhaps Marriage just
isn’t for me,’ Joseph even wondered.

The entire situation felt surreal. “I just cannot believe Mary to ever do such a thing. I just don’t
believe she is rotten”, Joseph kept telling himself. “There has to be another angle to this. But God? That’s going too far!” Joseph told himself.

In all of this Joseph had not lost his cool. Of course he
understood the consequences of breaking the engagement- the girl’s life would
be gravely endangered…she might even be stoned to death, he feared.

On the other hand his wounded feelings demanded: “Break the engagement! Destroy her! She
deserves no mercy. Make her an example for other girls.” Joseph fought the
urge. He still wanted to give Mary a chance. He suggested that in a moment of thoughtlessness
and pressure Mary had became susceptible to temptation. “Who doesn’t? I can’t endanger her life and the life of the child within
her for this. But then I cannot marry her either. Yet, I must save her life. I
know what I would do, divorce her quietly! Let her parents and relatives decide
what they would do with her. She is no more my responsibility”. That was
the best way forward in all of this. Joseph convinced himself and made the decision.

With those thoughts Joseph
headed on home.

TRUTH CAN SET YOU FREE:

Mental health experts tell us that the experience of a
traumatic event can invade our dreams. Sometimes unresolved issues get resolved
this way.

Did that happen to Joseph?

Joseph went to bed disturbed to his core. He would end his
engagement quietly, he had decided. Yet, while he slept his dream was invaded
with a diametrically opposite solution. The arguments he had used, the
faithlessness he demonstrated at Mary’s claim for pregnancy, were all refuted.
In fact, he was invited to participate in this amazing event that God was
unfolding all around him.

So, when Joseph woke up the next morning with his mind made
up, he walked over to Mary’s place and declared that he was marrying Mary.

Did Mary smile and nod or was she baffled? Was Joseph’s
decision to marry Mary a reaction or supernatural intervention? So, what
happened that brought about such a radical change in Joseph? How did confusion,
chaos turn into celebration?

ðTRUTH
CONFRONTS & TRUTH CHALLENGES:

Arise Lead the Celebration!

Reflecting on all that had been happening in his life of
late, Joseph knew that God of his fathers was about to revisit His people. That
was reason enough to celebrate.

As a son of King David by lineage, Joseph felt privileged to
be the father to God’s own Son. He confirmed his perception and his decision
that to marry Mary was the decision to make. Together Mary and he will fulfill
God’s plan of salvation for Israel.

ðCONCLUSION:

Joseph, a quiet but a daring, decisive, and a resolute person
had inherited a discerning mind, a perceptive heart and a deeply god-fearing
soul. He was so much like David of old.

Like David, Joseph too did not shy away from life-threatening
challenges but confronted them, worked hard to provide safety, security, and a
safe-haven for Mary and her baby while all the time remaining finely tuned to
God, listening and obeying.

Joseph by conduct, courage and character proved what a true royalty
is all about – even as a “mere carpenter”!

The challenge for us modern men is to evaluate ourselves
against this carpenter’s stature
and ask, are we equal to him? God still calls the ordinary to do the extra
ordinary with HIM! That’s our reason for CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION!!!

A young Yale postgrad student after listening to my ‘passionate’ talk on Family, asked me if I could point to the perfect example of a family that he could emulate. For the first time in my years of talking about family I found that every family I knew and every family I admired was an imperfect family. Every person within marriage and as a member of the family was flawed.

Meditating over this flawed relationship that I so ‘passionately’ preached and promoted through seminars, conferences, camps and the lecterns of the Church, colleges (and wherever I am invited!), I realized that the entire narrative about the family life in the Bible POST-FALL! Is it any wonder then that we have only portrayal of flawed filial relationships provided in the Bible?

So, while we have our excuse for imperfection, strain, and broken relationships etc. we also have 2 Corinthians 5:17ff as the standard to match. St. Paul the author tags it as ‘the new creation’. So, there really is no getting away with it, is there? It is Genesis 2: 18-25 all over again, only better this time! Why and how is it better? Because our restoration is post fall experience and it is provided the foundation of Christ and the Church as the model to mentor us! Amazing, And true to the core!! (Ephesians 5;21-6:4)

We, at Inheritors, work with God to promote and empower this dream-project – a wholesome and Christ-like Family on Earth!